Published Saturday, February 4, 2012 By amanda_caines. Under Amos Southend, Editor : Amanda Caines, Local Music Scene, Show Review, Writer: Amanda Caines Tags: Amanda Caines, Colbie Caillat, Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band, David Gray, Grown Up Avenger Stuff, Hello Handshake, Heyrocco, Hu Dost, Lucky Five, Maroon 5, Robert Palmer
Grown Up Avenger Stuff, Lucky 5, Heyrocco, and Hello Handshake | Amos’ Southend | January 27, 2012
As into music as I’ve always been, I haven’t come across many bands in Charlotte that pull out instruments on stage that make me go, “WTF is that?!” Not one, but two of the bands at Amos’ this past Saturday did that.
Openers Hello Handshake win the award for most unusual instruments I’ve seen used onstage. They even beat out alternative/world rockers Hu Dost (http://www.hudost.com/) while still staying pretty mainstream. I recognized the guiro and the theremin (though I must admit to never having seen the latter in a live stage performance before), but then brand-new keyboard-and-random-percussion-player, Susan Plante, brought out a musical contraption I’d never seen before. It looked like a cross between a bagpipe and an accordion—regardless, it sounded cool and blended will with the carefully-woven web of psychedelic sound. Susan boasts some pipes of her own: a perfect vocal complement to lead vocalist Bobby Bellamy.
Soothing sounds akin to the likes of early Coldplay emanated from the next band, Heyrocco, from Charleston, SC. All three sporting the iconic underage Xs on their hands, Heyrocco boasts a pretty mature sound for relative young’uns whose clean-cut look seemed more fitting for a high school talent show than a large music hall. They did some very interesting things, musically, working with unusual-but-fitting drum beats and creative bass lines, layered with twinkling alternative-rock-style guitar chords. Nathan Merli’s vocals work with the early 2000s alternative rock vibe, coming out strong, versatile, yet with an adult contemporary tone to them, sort of like a marriage of Colbie Caillat and David Gray. The band really shone with the song “Alaska,” where they all rocked out in a much more physical way than in the rest of the set’s offerings. The crowd, however, definitely dug their disco-esque finale, “Rave Monks,” which reminded me a little bit of Franz Ferdinand—in a good way. Definitely an ass-shaker of a tune.
Following the awesomeness that Hello Handshake and Heyrocco had already brought to the table, Lucky Five really, truly blew me away with a healthy dose of funky rock. Each member of this band is sick-talented, with each member playing at least two instruments during the course of the performance. Sound-wise, they’re like a Renaissance ’80s band, with a Huey Lewis & The News-meets-Maroon 5 vibe to the songs, with a dash of Stevie Wonder in vocalist/pianist Marques Nash. Offering great songwriting full of infectious hooks, musicianship like a heavier Dave Matthews Band, and charismatic stage presence, Lucky Five is the textbook definition of a great band. If these guys don’t make it big, something is seriously wrong with the music industry today. They, too, brought out an instrument I’d never seen before that ended up being some type of vocal synthesizer that looked a bit like a clarinet. That was just cool. Apparently a lot of the music they played was freshly written, so that might explain the excitement teeming from the stage—and right back at them from the crowd—as Lucky Five performed. I really couldn’t do much but stand there, bewildered, at the performance.
Finally, it was time for Grown Up Avenger Stuff. Every time I see them, it’s a bigger production, and this show’s theme was clearly “circus.” Blacklight-illuminated signs on the stage pointed out the attractions, and vocalist Deirdre Kroener sported a sequined ringmaster’s coat with a slicked-back hairdo that reminded me of the models in Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” video. Deirdre, and likewise John and Hunter Thomsen, decked herself with glow-in-the-dark paint that shone in the dark moments like something from a techno club. The kicker of the night’s circus theme, though, hung from a long, purple, silk curtain draped in front of center stage—an aerial silks performer! As Grown Up Avenger Stuff rang out the first chords to “Wish,” a song they rarely play live lately, the sequin-clad acrobat climbed up the silk curtain with great skill and grace, proceeding to perform lovely feats of strength and flexibility. It was captivating. The sonic backdrop of GUAS’s hard-edged indie rock perfectly mirrored the balance of strength and grace in the silky acrobatics going on in the foreground. Luckily this performance was free of any stage demons that are commonplace in local music—of course I might not have noticed any technical difficulties with a beautiful blonde hanging gracefully in front of the stage. Even if a bit distracting, the Avengers’ new tricks from show to show keep even the most seasoned fan coming back again and again just to see what they’ll do next.
Hello Handshake (indie alternative): http://www.hellohandshake.org/
Heyrocco (adult alternative): http://heyrocco.tumblr.com/
Lucky Five (funk/blues/rock): http://www.luckyfiveband.com/
Grown Up Avenger Stuff (indie rock/grunge): http://grownupavengerstuff.com/
